Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 583, NWS Birmingham, AL

July 9, 1998Shelby County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1998, 1:27 PM CDT for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 9, 1998, 1:27 PM CDT (18:27 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1998, 2:30 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Shelby County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 14 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2394 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1998-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2394 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
772 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

558 
WUUS1 KBHM 091829 RRA
SVRBHM
ALC117-091930-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
127 PM CDT THU JUL 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SHELBY COUNTY... IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 230 PM CDT

AT 1:26 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE CITY
OF BIRMINGHAM.  THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED WINDS OF 59 MPH AT THE
BIRMIGHAM AIRPORT.  THIS STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.  THIS
STORM WILL MOVE INTO SHELBY COUNTY MAINLY IMPACTING THE POPULATED AREA
BETWEEN I-65 AND HIGHWAY 280.  THE CORE OF THE STORM WILL TRAVEL ALONG
280 TOWARDS CHELSEA AND WILSONVILLE.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF DAMAGING WIND. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING... PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

&

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 9, 9:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 57 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-100225-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
930 AM CDT THU JUL 9 1998

HOT AND HUMID WEATHER WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA AGAIN TODAY.  HEAT
INDICES ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 105 TO 110 OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL AND
SOUTH ALABAMA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA.  AN EXCESSIVE HEAT ADVISORY
IN EFFECT TODAY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGH FRIDAY.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TODAY...AND THIS
PRECIPITATION WILL BRING SOME RELIEF FROM THE HEAT.  A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCED SOME STRONG DOWNDRAFT WINDS THIS AFTERNOON
...BUT WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED...AND ACTIVATION OF
STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE
NECESSARY.

FOR THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...SEE PRODUCT
BHMSPSMOB.  FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...LOOK AT MIASPSTLH.  FOR MORE
WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT
HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 9:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 57 minutes before
ALZ001>050-GAZ089-090-102-120-100225-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AL AND WEST CENTRAL GA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
930 AM CDT THU JUL 9 1998

HOT AND HUMID WEATHER WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA AGAIN TODAY.  HEAT
INDICES ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 105 TO 110 OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL AND
SOUTH ALABAMA...AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA.  AN EXCESSIVE HEAT ADVISORY
IN EFFECT TODAY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGH FRIDAY.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TODAY...AND THIS
PRECIPITATION WILL BRING SOME RELIEF FROM THE HEAT.  A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCED SOME STRONG DOWNDRAFT WINDS THIS AFTERNOON
...BUT WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED...AND ACTIVATION OF
STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE
NECESSARY.

FOR THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...SEE PRODUCT
BHMSPSMOB.  FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...LOOK AT MIASPSTLH.  FOR MORE
WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT OUR INTERNET SITE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT
HTTP://WWW.ACESAG.AUBURN.EDU/DEPARTMENT/NWS/

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 1:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker64 min
Jul 9, 1:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson64 min
Jul 9, 1:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa50 min
Jul 9, 2:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa34 min
Jul 9, 2:09 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson2 hr
Jul 9, 2:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega33 min
Jul 9, 3:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery63 min
Jul 9, 3:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry51 min
Jul 9, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.